Here is what Tim Vickery (BBC reporter on South American football - knows his stuff) said about him last December after he was linked with some English teams:
He's been the star player in this year's Brazilian Championship, a left-footed attacking midfielder who has played a key role in his team coasting to the title.
He's had a strange career. He was Brazil's left-back in the 2009 South American Under-20 Championships. But he didn't do well, lost his place in the team and was left out of the squad altogether for the World Cup at that level later in the year. At the time he was with Corinthians, who loaned him out here and there, didn't seem to think much of him and let him go to Coritiba - where he reinvented himself as a midfielder.
I think he's one of those players who has benefited from the tactical switch to 4-2-3-1. He can search for space across the line of three, and then showcase his tight dribbling and ability to thread a pass. But after a couple of interesting campaigns with Coritiba, no-one really imagined that he was capable of being as decisive as he has proved with Cruzeiro - and some doubt that both he and his team will be able to sustain this year's form.
In terms of adaptation to English football, he would clearly find the intensity and reduced space of the game a challenge. But I think it's all academic. I can't see any basis on which he would be awarded a work permit.